Trustworthy?
by Eva NoName
Summary: After an unfortunate trip to NYC, the flock go back to Dr. Martinez's place. But they soon find out they're being stalked by Jonah, a guy that claims to be from a group that tries to prevent human experimentation. Or so he says. Fax :P R&R please!
1. Chapter 1: Not Much Left

The cold, unforgiving wind sliced through my thinning sweatshirt like an ice dagger. It didn't help that I was soaked to the bone from the recent downpour of rain, although the temperature had dropped so much within the hour that I was surprised it wasn't snow. _Of all the places to go during the winter, they picked New York._ With a bag of food in my hand and nothing to look forward to but the flock's saddening faces, I made my way to the rooftop where we were staying. _If only we were back at Mom's place,_ I thought. But of course the younger ones had overpowered me, wanting to take a trip to New York.

As I approached the building where the flock was waiting, I noticed a strange (but oddly cute) guy looking at me with a smirk. I tensed, and kept walking, but at the same time, I gave him a threatening stare that would of made a normal person back off. But this guy didn't care. He casually strolled over to me, grinning like the idiot he probably was.

"You look pretty down on your luck," he stated as if he were telling me the time of day.

"You will be if you don't back off," I retorted. He shrugged and stepped away, but still giving me this weird look, like he was trying to figure me out. I knew I would have to keep an eye on that creeper.

The flock was glad to see I was back and unharmed, but when Gazzy peeked into the plastic bag I had brought back, he was disappointed. "This is all?" he asked sadly, giving me a heartbreaking look while pulling out a box of saltine crackers and some peanut butter. I felt bad for him, but not so much for Nudge and Angel, who were also giving me downcast looks.

"You know I couldn't have bought the whole dang store if_ someone_ hadn't gone to the mall without my permission."

"It was nothing!" Nudge exclaimed, "Me and Angel just wanted to see what they had at Forever 21! You should have seen this amazing dress they had, it would've look fabulous on you! And they had this _adorable_ mini-skirt, me and angel wanted to get them so we could match and--"

"_You lost the credit card!"_

"But it was an accident--"

"I had no idea where you were!"

"But the mini-skirts--"

"Nudge! Max!" Iggy snapped, "Cut it out! Nudge, Max is right, that was a stupid thing to do! Max, stop yelling at her about it, we're already stressed out enough!"

Nudge was close to tears, and I bet I looked pretty ticked off. The flock finished their sad meal in awkward silence, stacked fists, and called it a day. As everyone else found a somewhat comfortable spot to sleep, Fang came up to me.

"How much do we have left?" he quietly asked me.

"Are you talking about money, patience, or will to live?" I sighed, my exhaustion clearly heard in my voice.

"I was asking about money, but we can talk about the other two if you like," he muttered softly, reaching over to gently pull a piece of hair away from my face

"Well, then I have almost nothing," I replied, sitting down against the wall. Fang sat down with me.

"So the food issue?"

"Tomorrow, we'll get to eat at _Le Fantaisie Dumpster_," I answered with mock enthusiasm.

"And patience?"

"I'll make it," I said, closing my eyes and resting my head against the wall.

"Will to live?" he asked, he voice much softer.

I looked up and smiled at him. "I still have some of that left," I whispered. Fang grinned at me, flashing his white teeth, making my heart melt.

"How 'bout we head back to Dr. Martinez's house tomorrow?" he suggested, knowing me all too well. I only nodded, weary from the stressful day. Fang leaned over and kissed my forehead, then wrapped his arms around me to protect me from the cold. Sure that I would wake up tomorrow feeling a heck of a lot better, I was able to fall asleep with little to worry about.


	2. Chapter 2: Less Stress

**I realized that I completely forgot to put a disclaimer on my first chapter! So, DISCLAIMER: James Patterson owns the Maximum Ride characters. The plot, however, is completely my own. Thank you to ali ebel and Strawberry Shortcake123 for adding me to your favs! I welcome constructive criticism (in other words, tell me if I suck or not. :D) **

I woke up to learn that the sun was up and ready to blind anyone who looked at it. Like me, for instance. As I tried to blink away the pain in my eyes, I saw Angel leaning over me, with an excited smile on her face. "Fang says we're going back to Dr. Martinez's house!" she said happily.

"Yeah, sweetie, I know." I yawned, giving her a good morning hug. Where was Fang anyway? I looked around me, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Angel--"

"He's getting breakfast," she answered before I could get my question out. As Angel pranced over to Nudge, she gave me a look that said, _You loooovvve him._ I could practically hear her say it in my head. Come think of it, it probably _was _her saying it in my head.

Everyone was up and moving around, Gazzy looking down at the street below, Iggy walking aimlessly near him, not even concerned about falling over the edge. Nudge and Angel were engaged in a card game, and Angel (surprise surprise!) seemed to be winning. I stood up and walked over to Gazzy.

"What do you think would happen if I threw a coin over the edge?" he randomly asked me.

"Well, this building has about 50 floors, so I'd say it might land on on someone's head and possibly knock them out." I replied, trying to sound like I knew what the heck I was talking about.

"Nope." he simply said.

"What?"

"It wouldn't knock them out, but it could make a small cut. I saw it on Mythbusters."

"Come on, Max, these are essential things you need to know!" came a voice behind me, making me shriek a bit and jump about a foot into the air over the edge of the building. If I were human, I would probably scream like a banshee as I fell to my death. But, being a freaky bird kid, I just unfurled my wings and flew back up to the building as hundreds of prying eyes below, well, pried. I landed swiftly on the rooftop, and turned to Fang, who I now blamed completely for my little plunge over the edge. He simply shrugged and gave me this "What?" look. Then there was a sudden burst of laughter as the whole flock, including Mr. Emotionless, doubled over laughing.

"You--you should h-have seen...your face!" laughed the Gasman, tears running down his face.

"Did you hear yourself _scream_?" Iggy asked, hooting and snickering uncontrollably.

"I didn't scream!" I said defending myself, "I just made a noise... of... surprise and..." And then I joined the flock's laughter, Nudge rolling on the ground and Angel fluttering up in the air making such a high-pitched giggle I was sure she had been sucking helium.

After a few minutes, we calmed down, our stomach aching and our throats dry.

"Okay guys, I _think_ they may have notice the adolescent girl falling over the side of a building." said Fang, still breathless from our spaz moment, "I'm also pretty sure they noticed she _flew_ back up. So I say we should get back to Dr. Martinez and Ella." He looked at me for consent.

"We were headed there anyway, and it's been too long since I've seen Mom and Ella." I noticed at the sound of Ella's name, Iggy suddenly seemed very occupied with looking at his feet. I also took note that Iggy could not see his feet. Curious, I called upon the all-knowing. _Angel? What's with Ig? _She giggled helpfully._ You know, she's not even two years younger than him,_ she vaguely answered. More giggling. Rolling my eyes and sighing, I turned to the flock.

"We have everything? Okay, U and A, southwest guys!" I called, desperate to leave the freezing, polluted city. "Ig, make sure you fly a good sixty feet up, or you'll fly into a building." Happy to be going home, I did a flip in the air to mock the poor earth bound people below.

And then and noticed him.

The creep. The guy from the street, peering up at us with a pair of binoculars. As soon as he saw us leaving, he jumped into a car waiting for him on the street.

We were being followed.

**Sorry. Short chapter. Please comment! **


	3. Chapter 3: Jonah

**Sorry for the slight delay in updating. I would have had it up yesterday, but thanks to a giant thunderstorm (looovveee them) the internet was down. And one comment: To me, Fang is like a younger, (straight) Adam Lambert without the guyliner. Just saying. I was very sad when I discovered Adam Lambert was gay. :(  
Anyways, on with the story. **

Being my paranoid, worrisome self, I imagined the worst possible scenario. This guy must be from an organization of sick creeps who want to poke, prod and study us, or likely kill us. I envisioned them kidnapping Mom again, or Ella, or someone I love.

I imagined what it would be like if they took Fang.

And then I had to tell myself that I was overreacting, and my panicking was just stupid. To convince myself this I went over a list of possible reasons a college-aged guy would be following us.

1) He's just some crazy stalker psycho who should be in the loony bin  
2) He's wants to help us  
3) He's bad

And really, the first two didn't seem all that likely. But that's just me.

I down to where Fang was, and muttered in his ear, "We're being followed." He didn't look surprised. He just nodded, the silent nod that either said nothing, or gave a speech. This one gave me nothing. Sigh.

After a few moments of silence Fang asked me, "He's following us by car?"

"He's trying."

"We're taking the road-free route," he announced to the flock.

"Aw, come_ on_! It takes like three more hours to get to Arizona that way!" Iggy complained.

"I've haven't seen Total in forever! How come we have to slow down the process?" Angel whined.

"I'll only go that way if we stop by McDonald's or Burger King or something," compromised Nudge.

I knowingly smirked. "No money, remember?" Nudge and Angel became unnaturally silent after that.

After a few hours of Gazzy and Iggy discussing new ways to blow things up, Nudge chatting away about fashion with Angel, and Fang and I talking about new fighting tactics, we stopped for a short break behind a burger joint. Nudge was the first to attack the Dumpster, and the rest of the flock soon followed.

"Yes, almost a whole order of cheese fries!" the Gasman cheered.

"Dibs on that burger!" I called.

"Don't they sell salads at this grease house?" asked Nudge disappointedly, settling for chicken sandwich.

Soon, everyone had had their fill of half-eaten food, but of course, we couldn't just _leave. _Nudge had spotted what she called a "cute little boutique" down the road and dragged Angel with her, promising to stay safe. Iggy claimed he smelled something explosive down the road, and he and Gazzy went to go find the source, leaving Fang and I alone. _That was my plan all along, _said Angel's from where ever she was. _I told them to find somewhere to go, you two haven't had alone time in forever._

Leave it to Angel.

Fang held out his hand for me and I gladly took it. We walked down some road with a lot of schmancy antique stores and other places old ladies always seemed to be shopping.

"Has Total set the date for the wedding yet?" Fang asked me. Before we left for the Big Apple, Total had been talking non-stop about him and Akila, insisting they have a real wedding with all of his and Akila's friends. I was pretty sure that consisted of the flock, a few people from CSM, and a couple of canines. Total had also made me maid of honor, Nudge bridesmaid, Fang best-man (ha!), and Iggy a groomsman. Angel was the flower girl, and Gazzy was the ring bearer. Or collar bearer.

"Unfortunately, yes," I answered. "He actually believes someone would want to come to a dog wedding, in which one of the dogs _talks._ But does he seriously believe that they would come on Christmas Eve?"

Fang groaned. "I guess that's what I get for letting Angel keep a dog. You think I'll be able to skip it?"

"Only if you want to be killed by a mutant dog with wings," I said, grinning. "Do you think I can get away with wearing jeans?"

"What, is the dress Total picked that bad?"

"Well, it's not pouffy, thank God, but it looks like a pop star threw up all over it!" I told him in disgust. The dress Total expected me to wear was strapless, knee-length, _pink_, with beading, and a huge bow in the back. I'm sure any normal teenage girl would love it (Nudge, for instance) but I was way too much for me. "I just don't know why he won't let me wear jeans..." I pondered.

"Would it kill you to girl up for a dog's wedding?" he questioned, putting his arm around me.

I cocked my eyebrow as if to say, "Are you kidding me?"

He smirked, saying, "I'm sure you'd look just as gorgeous in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt as you would in a girly dress." Fang gently placed his finger under my chin and looked down on me with a smile on his face. His smile really was amazing, it gave me a heart attack every time I saw it. And those _eyes--_

Fang's lips interrupted my thinking. He placed one hand on my neck and the other on my back, and kissed me. Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed him back. I could imagine all the rich old ladies on this street looking at us with disapproval, but naturally, I didn't care.

But of course, my special moment with Fang was ruined when Gazzy came up to us yelling, "We found a place that sells guns and--" He stopped short, seeing that Fang and I were kissing. As any eight (possibly nine) year old would do, he started snickering uncontrollably. Ig came up behind him, and asked what was going on. Of course, Gazzy told him, and _he _started cracking up.

After I gave them both a good punch in the stomach, the four of us walked down the street to look for Angel and Nudge. I thought Angel's name hard, hoping she would hear me from a few blocks away, but I had no luck. After a few minutes, I got kind of panicky. Even Fang's reassuring hand didn't help. Finally, Gazzy spotted Angel and Nudge eating near the window of a cafe. With a stranger. _Angel!_ I scolded. She turned her head and smiled at me. I gave her my best death glare, and her smile faltered. Marching through the door of the restaurant, I scowled at at Nudge and Angel and snarled, "What the _crap_ are you--"

And then I saw the stranger's face. It was the guy from New York City.

Angel was apparently reading my mind, because she felt my tenseness. She started to explain. "This is Jonah, from CSM--"

"Yeah, Coalition to Stop the _Mutants_," I muttered.

"No, really, he is!" Nudge cried desperately. "Angel read his mind!"

"Just because people think are thinking something doesn't mean it's true," Fang reasoned. The whole time this so-called "Jonah" guy was still sitting at the table, looking a bit confused. I then realized that Fang had no idea who this was.

Leaning over inconspicuously, I whispered in his ear, "That's the guy who was trying to follow us."

Of course then Fang got all tense on me, ready to whack this guy if necessary.

I turned to the guy. "So, Joe, to whom do I owe the horror of seeing you twice within a 24-hour period?"

"Well, I... uh," Jonah started. I waited patiently. "I kind of followed you..." he admitted, trailing off.

"_Kind of?_ We took a route with almost no roads, and you just coincidentally end up in the same cafe with two members of my flock, offering to buy them food? Are you telling me you _kind of _followed us?" I was almost yelling, and clearly ticked off at this dude.

"Look, can't we just sit down and talk? I--"

"We're fine where we are, thanks," Iggy snapped. Most people in the cafe were either nervously getting up to leave or enjoying the show we were apparently giving.

"Okay," sighed Jonah. "I'm not from CSM."

"Knew it," said Gazzy.

"I'm from an organization called the Sane Scientist's Association. We try to stop all the human experimentation that's been going on behind the government's back. It's a small organization, kind of like a CSM wannabe."

Gazzy and Nudge were still giggling at the name "Sane Scientist's Association".

"I didn't make up the name!" objected Jonah.

"But you joined the group, man," Iggy pointed out helpfully

"You _could_ call it the Association of Sane Scientists," suggested the Gasman, "Because then the initials would be--"

"Gazzy," warned Fang, but even he couldn't help but smirking a bit.

After a few more cracks about the name, the whole flock was laughing at this poor guy. But because he was probably evil, I kept laughing. After a few minutes, the laughter died and I composed myself and tried (without success) to ask with a straight face, "So what are you doing here?"

Jonah sighed and waited a few moments. The flock waited expectantly.

"I know where Mr. Chu is."

**Again, sorry for the wait. I blame the weather and my picky word choice. Anyway, if you want to spread happiness throughout the world, comment! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Valencia

**Sorry for the delay in updating! I had major writer's block. Oh yeah and I'm not re-writing the 3rd chapter. I'm too lazy. :) Major thanks to all my reviewers and those who added me to their favs, story alerts, etc.**

_"I know where Mr. Chu is."_

Well, there was something I didn't expect. Of course, I didn't believe the crap that just came out of his mouth, but it kind of surprised me. I'm used to hearing things like "We want to jab you with needles and perform an autopsy," or "Come to our school so you can learn things you don't really need to know." But actually offering information? Not so much.

Which just proved that it was a bunch of bull.

I laughed and retorted, "The lame guy from the the SSA tells me he knows the location of a crazy psychotic scientist. You expect me to believe that? I don't think so." I turned to the flock. "Come on guys, we have a place to be."

We all left the cafe and took the sky with Jonah just staring after us. He had something about him that I couldn't put my finger on. On the outside, he was a a normal looking guy, medium build, but nothing I couldn't pummel in a second. He kind of seemed like the guy that let people walk all over him. I mean, _I_ just had. But he also gave off a vibe that tells me he could stand up for himself if he wanted to. He didn't though, for some reason.

And another thing. I had to _remind_ myself to keep my guard up around him. I never have to do that! I'm suspicious of pretty much every human, until they prove me wrong. It was like my instincts told me I could trust him but my brain knew I couldn't.

_I know! He had that effect on Nudge and I. We just kind of... went with it, _Angel thought to me.

This kind of scared me. What if he had some kind of mind control, one that even Angel couldn't overpower? _No, that's not it, _Angel pondered. _I think he has, like, an affect on the people around him that make him seem... I don't know... trustworthy? _

_Okay, _I thought. _Bad, but not terrible. He can be resisted. _I told myself to let it go, the whole thing. Jonah was no concern of mine. As long as he kept his distance and I kept an eye out, he was no danger to me.

But the whole way home, I couldn't keep my mind off him.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"MAX!!!" Ella shrieked as I landed in the driveway. She threw her arms around me, practically choking me to death. The rest of the flock landed after me, probably glad they weren't getting strangled. I tried to hug Ella back, even though my hands were in a very awkward position, although I did manage to get out a stifled "Hey!" Ella released me from her grip and went to go give the rest of the flock less deadly hugs. I glanced around for Mom, but she was nowhere to be seen. I stepped inside the house, looking and listening for her. "Hello?" I called. There was no answer and I hoped she was at the store or going on a jog or- no. There she was in the living room asleep on the couch, looking beat.

We has rescued Mom from Mr. Chu's evil grip a few months back (destroying his underwater corporation and discovering a mutated species in the process.) We had found her starving and really dehydrated, but the doctors had assured me that she would regain full strength. However, even weeks after the incident, Mom was asleep most of the day and starting looking like a skeleton. I insisted she went to the doctor, and despite her stubbornness and reluctance to go, I ended up practically dragging her there. The doctor reported she was ok, that she was still recovering and just needed to eat more and relax. But here she was, several months and doctor visits later, still looking like she had a disease.

I wondered if the doctors had missed something, if she was seriously ill and needed to be hospitalized. I decided then she was going to the doctor tomorrow, for what seemed like the millionth time.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Iggy was ecstatic. It had been way to long since he had tasted Dr. Martinez's homemade Mexican food, or her heavenly cookies.

That is, if she was okay today.

It had also seemed like forever since he's seen (okay, been with) Ella. He longed to hear her voice, smell the fragrance coming off her silky hair--

Angel giggled beside him. _Since when do you go around sniffing her hair?_ she snickered. _And how do you know that it's silky?_

Stay out of my head! he snapped.

Iggy could her the thud of Max's combat bat boots as the hit the pavement of the Martinez's driveway. He listened for Ella's voice (well, shriek) and Max's strangled reply. Ella proceeded to hug Angel and Nudge, then the Gasman, a quick hug to Fang (because he's so touchy-feely) and finally to Iggy, who she embraced hard.

But Iggy couldn't tell. For all he knew, she could have squeezed the living daylights out of everyone else.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

**Okay i know it's short but all I could get out was like a paragraph a day and it was getting sad. And you've been waiting uber long. From now on I will try (I repeat: TRY) to get out at least a chapter a week, if not more. But that may not happen as my brother likes to use the computer when I want it and the writer's block bug likes to buzz around in my head.**

**NOW, press that button! Yes that one! Tell me watcha think!**


End file.
